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Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp

Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp
Iraq repatriated 706 people from Syria’s Al-Hol camp, home to tens of thousands of people including family members of suspected militants, a security source said Thursday. (AFP/File)
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Updated 10 October 2024

Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp

Iraq repatriates 706 people from Syria camp
  • Al-Hol houses relatives of suspected Daesh group militants alongside refugees
  • The security source told AFP that “706 people, or 181 families, returned to Iraq from Al-Hol and were transferred to the Al-Jadaa“

BAGHDAD: Iraq repatriated 706 people from Syria’s Al-Hol camp, home to tens of thousands of people including family members of suspected militants, a security source said Thursday.
More than 43,000 Syrians, Iraqis and other foreigners from at least 45 countries are held in the squalid and overcrowded camp in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria.
Al-Hol houses relatives of suspected Daesh group militants alongside refugees.
The security source, who requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media, told AFP that “706 people, or 181 families, returned to Iraq from Al-Hol and were transferred to the Al-Jadaa,” a camp near the northern city of Mosul.
It is the fourth group of Iraqis brought back from Al-Hol in a year, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
Repatriation of family members of suspected Daesh members has stirred controversy in Iraq, where the militant group seized large swathes of land before being defeated in late 2017.
To mitigate tensions, upon arrival in Iraq, authorities usually keep returnees from Al-Hol for weeks or even months at what officials describe as a “psychological rehabilitation” facility in Al-Jadaa camp, where they also undergo security checks before returning home.


Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack

Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack
Updated 12 sec ago

Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack

Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack
KFAR YONA: The Israeli military said eight soldiers were wounded on Thursday when a driver deliberately rammed his car into a bus stop in what police called a “terror attack.”
The army said two soldiers were “moderately injured” and six “lightly injured” in the attack at the Beit Lid junction near Kfar Yona in central Israel.
“The soldiers were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment and their families have been notified,” it said in a statement.
There has been a spate of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the Palestinian militants’ attack on October 7, 2023.
A teenager died in March this year when police said a car driven by a Palestinian man deliberately plowed into civilians at a bus stop in northern Israel.
One witness to Thursday’s ramming said the driver cut her off the road near Kfar Yona, then “turned his wheel to the right, full gas, as fast as he could, and hit as many people as he could.”
Kineret Hanuka, 45, told AFP: “I saw only blood and heard them screaming: ‘It hurts!’... It was so hard for me to see this.”
Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) first responders said they received a report at 9:25 am (0625 GMT) that a vehicle had crashed into a bus stop near Kfar Yona.
They said that the wounded had chest, limb and head injuries.
Israeli police spokesman Dedan Elsdunne described the incident as a “terror attack, where a terrorist rammed his vehicle into individuals who were standing here waiting to catch the bus.”
“He (the attacker) then attempted to flee. He abandoned his vehicle and fled from that location. We had large police forces who immediately arrived here, set up a perimeter so that we can locate this individual.”
The car was later recovered and the driver is being hunted using helicopters, motorbikes and a specialist dog unit, police added.
The site of the crash was cordoned off as forensic investigators combed the scene, AFP journalists reported.
In Israel, at least 32 people, including soldiers, have died in attacks by Palestinians since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
In the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, at least 960 Palestinians, including many fighters but also civilians, have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to Palestinian Authority figures.
At the same time, at least 36 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, Israeli figures showed.

Explosion heard in Syria’s Idlib kills civilians, al-Ekhbariah TV reports

Explosion heard in Syria’s Idlib kills civilians, al-Ekhbariah TV reports
Updated 58 min 55 sec ago

Explosion heard in Syria’s Idlib kills civilians, al-Ekhbariah TV reports

Explosion heard in Syria’s Idlib kills civilians, al-Ekhbariah TV reports

DUBAI: An explosion rocked the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Thursday, state-run Al Ekhbariya TV reported, and an unspecified number of people were killed or injured, the local emergency operations department said.

The cause of the blast was not immediately known, the TV report said.


Greece to send salvage ship to Red Sea after latest Houthi attacks

Greece to send salvage ship to Red Sea after latest Houthi attacks
Updated 24 July 2025

Greece to send salvage ship to Red Sea after latest Houthi attacks

Greece to send salvage ship to Red Sea after latest Houthi attacks
  • Shipping Minister Vassilis Kikilias said the salvage vessel — called Giant and provided by the Hellenic Association of Tugboat Owners — would “support, protect and assist Greek-owned vessels and Greek

ATHENS: Greece will deploy a salvage vessel in the Red Sea to assist in maritime accidents and protect seafarers and global shipping, the shipping minister said on Thursday, following attacks on two Greek vessels by Yemen’s Houthi militants this month.
Two Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated cargo ships, Magic Seas and Eternity C, sank off Yemen after repeated attacks by the Iran-aligned militant group.
The strikes on the two vessels marked a resumption of attacks on shipping by the Houthis, who struck more than 100 ships between November 2023 and December 2024 in what they said was a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza.
Shipping Minister Vassilis Kikilias said the salvage vessel — called Giant and provided by the Hellenic Association of Tugboat Owners — would “support, protect and assist Greek-owned vessels and Greek seafarers.”
All of the crew members from the Magic Seas were rescued by a passing ship.
The crew of the Eternity C had to abandon the ship. Ten were rescued by a privately led mission, but five more are feared dead and the Houthis are believed to be holding another 10 crew members, maritime security sources have said.
Aspides, the European Union naval mission protecting shipping in the Red Sea, did not have assets in the area at the time of the incidents.
Giant is manned by a specialist crew of 14 Greek sailors, has four engines with 16,000 horsepower, and can sail in the most adverse weather conditions, the Shipping Ministry said.
It can participate in search and rescue operations, with accommodation for 40 people, help prevent marine pollution and also has firefighting capacity.


South Sudan faces legal battle in London amid oil debt crisis, political turmoil

South Sudan faces legal battle in London amid oil debt crisis, political turmoil
Updated 24 July 2025

South Sudan faces legal battle in London amid oil debt crisis, political turmoil

South Sudan faces legal battle in London amid oil debt crisis, political turmoil
  • South Sudan has endured two civil wars in the past 15 years and is grappling with increased debt and a shaky peace deal

LONDON: Trading house BB Energy has filed a case against South Sudan in London for failing to deliver oil owed under a pre-payment deal, according to court filings and a company spokesperson.
One of the poorest countries in the world, South Sudan has endured two civil wars in the past 15 years and is grappling with increased debt and a shaky peace deal. In March, the government placed its petroleum minister, as well as other officials, under house arrest.
BB Energy DMCC filed the case last month, court records showed. A company spokesperson told Reuters the action was necessary to preserve BB Energy's rights under a contract with the Ministry of Petroleum.
"As yet, they have defaulted on delivery," the spokesperson said. "We are currently in the process of serving formal proceedings; however we are always looking to find an amicable solution, especially considering our long-term interests in the country."
Officials in South Sudan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.
Oil trader Vitol also filed a case against South Sudan in London in May, but said it had since resolved the issue. Sources told Reuters that case related to a single cancelled oil cargo.
In May, a London court ordered South Sudan to pay Afreximbank $657 million over defaulted loans. The IMF pegged South Sudan's total public debt at $3.7 billion as of 2023, with $550 million of the total owed to oil companies.
At its peak before the civil war, South Sudan's crude oil production stood at 350,000 to 400,000 barrels per day, but that tumbled to just 72,000 bpd last year, according to OPEC data, after a damaged oil pipeline halted exports.
The pipeline resumed operations in June, and the country pumped 138,000 bpd that month.


Israel studies Hamas reply to Gaza ceasefire plan as fighting continues

Israel studies Hamas reply to Gaza ceasefire plan as fighting continues
Updated 24 July 2025

Israel studies Hamas reply to Gaza ceasefire plan as fighting continues

Israel studies Hamas reply to Gaza ceasefire plan as fighting continues
  • Hamas confirmed in a statement early Thursday that it sent the proposal to mediators
  • Israel is reviewing a revised response from Hamas to a proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday

JERUSALEM: Israel is reviewing a revised response from Hamas to a proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Thursday, as Israeli air and ground strikes continued to pound the Gaza Strip.
Hamas confirmed it had handed over a new proposal, but did not disclose its contents. A previous version, submitted late on Tuesday, was rejected by mediators as insufficient and was not even passed to Israel, sources familiar with the situation said.
Both sides are facing huge pressure at home and abroad to reach a deal, with the humanitarian conditions inside Gaza deteriorating sharply amidst widespread, acute hunger in the Palestinian enclave that has shocked the world.
A senior Israeli official was quoted by local media as saying the new text was something Israel could work with. However, Israel’s Channel 12 said a rapid deal was not within reach, with gaps remaining between the two sides, including over where the Israeli military should withdraw to during any truce.
A Palestinian official close to the talks told Reuters the latest Hamas position was “flexible, positive and took into consideration the growing suffering in Gaza and the need to stop the starvation.”
Dozens of people have starved to death in Gaza the last few weeks as a wave of hunger crashes on the Palestinian enclave, according to local health authorities. The World Health Organization said on Wednesday 21 children under the age of five were among those who died of malnutrition so far this year.
Israel, which cut off all supplies to Gaza from the start of March and reopened it with new restrictions in May, says it is committed to allowing in aid but must control it to prevent it from being diverted by militants.
It says it has let in enough food for Gaza’s 2.2 million people over the course of the war, and blames the United Nations for being slow to deliver it; the UN says it is operating as effectively as possible under conditions imposed by Israel.

Israeli forces on Thursday hit the central Gaza towns of Nuseirat, Deir Al-Balah and Bureij.
Health officials at Al-Awda Hospital said three people were killed in an airstrike on a house in Nuseirat, three more died from tank shelling in Deir Al-Balah, and separate airstrikes in Bureij killed a man and a woman and wounded several others.
Nasser hospital said three people were killed by Israeli gunfire while seeking aid in southern Gaza near the so-called Morag axis between Khan Younis and Rafah. The Israeli military said Palestinian militants had fired a projectile overnight from Khan Younis toward an aid distribution site near Morag. It was not immediately clear whether the incidents were linked.
Washington has been pushing the warring sides toward a deal for a 60-day ceasefire that would free some of the remaining 50 hostages held in Gaza in return for prisoners jailed in Israel, and allow in aid.
US Middle East peace envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Europe this week for meetings on the Gaza war and a range of other issues.
An Israeli official said Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer would meet Witkoff on Friday if the gaps between Israel and Hamas over the terms of a ceasefire had narrowed sufficiently.
Hamas is facing growing domestic pressure amid deepening humanitarian hardship in Gaza and continued Israeli advances.
Mediators say the group is seeking a withdrawal of Israeli troops to positions held before March 2, when Israel ended a previous ceasefire, and the delivery of aid under UN supervision.
That would exclude a newly formed US-based group, the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, which began handing out food in May at sites located near Israeli troops who have shot dead hundreds of Palestinians trying to get aid.